By 1977, Hell’s Kitchen had seen violence before, but never like this. If you want real history, documented, unsanitized, and told exactly as it happened, subscribe now. These stories don’t stay buried. New York City, Hell’s Kitchen, May 13th, 1977. 2:15 a.m. Jimmy Counan stands in the back room of the 596 Club on 10th Avenue. Mickey Featherstone is with him.
So is a man named Ricky Taciello. Taciello had been talking. He had been seen with federal agents twice in the past month. Witnesses would later testify that Kunan gave the order without raising his voice. Taciello is shot once in the head. Kunan does not leave the body intact. He retrieves a knife from the bar.
Over the next 40 minutes, he dismembers the corpse. The pieces are placed in plastic garbage bags. Featherstone helps carry them to a car parked on 11th Avenue. By dawn, the bags are scattered across multiple dumpsters in three different burrows. This becomes the signature method. Over the next 7 years, at least 12 men disappear this way.
Police reports describe it as the Westies disposal protocol. It is effective. Without bodies, prosecutors cannot file murder charges. Witnesses refuse to talk. Families stop asking questions. James Michael Kunan was born in Manhattan on December 21st, 1946. He grew up on West 51st Street in the heart of Hell’s Kitchen.
His father was a dock worker. His mother raised seven children in a four- room tenement. By age 15, Kunan had been arrested twice. Once for assault, once for armed robbery. Both charges were dropped. Witnesses did not appear in court. In 1965, Kunan began working for Mickey Spelain. Spelain controlled Hell’s Kitchen’s rackets.
Lone sharking, numbers running, labor extortion. He had held power since the early 1960s. He was Irish, connected to older Hell’s Kitchen gangs, and respected by the Italian mafia families across the river. Kunan worked as an enforcer. He collected debts. He broke legs. He learned the neighborhood block by block. By 1971, Kunan wanted more.
Spain refused to promote him. Kunan began operating independently. He opened his own lone sharking business on 10th Avenue. He collected protection money from bars Spelain claimed as his own. Spelain responded by sending two men to beat Kunan in broad daylight outside the Market Diner on 11th Avenue.
Kunan survived. He did not retaliate immediately. On May 13th, 1973, Spellain’s enforcer, Tom Deainy, was shot outside a bar on 9th Avenue. The shooter was never identified. Kunan was questioned and released. 3 months later, another Spillain associate, Eddie Kamiski, was found dead in a parking lot on West 44th Street.
He had been shot twice in the back of the head. Again, no arrests were made. Spain understood the message. In early 1974, he agreed to meet Counan at the Sunbright Bar on 10th Avenue. The meeting was observed by multiple witnesses. [ __ ] arrived with Featherstone and two others. Spelain arrived alone. They spoke for less than 10 minutes.
Spelain left the bar and never returned to Hell’s Kitchen. He moved to Queens. He retired from criminal activity. [ __ ] now controlled the neighborhood. Mickey Featherstone became Counan’s closest associate. Francis Thomas Featherstone was born on September 2nd, 1948 in Manhattan. He grew up on West 43rd Street. He joined the army in 1966 and served in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division.
He saw heavy combat in the Aha Valley and near Hugh. He returned to New York in 1967 with a purple heart and recurring nightmares. Friends later testified that he drank heavily and heard voices. He met [ __ ] in 1971 at a bar on 9th Avenue. Featherstone became Coon’s enforcer. He carried out beatings, arson, and murders.
Court records from his later trial describe him as highly volatile and capable of extreme violence without hesitation. He was loyal. He never questioned orders. The Westies, the name given to Kunan’s crew by police and reporters, operated from a network of bars along 10th and 11th avenues. The 596 Club became their headquarters.
The Sunbright Bar, the Market Diner, and Shannon’s Pub were regular meeting points. These were not glamorous establishments. They were dim, narrow, and filled with dock workers, excons, and men who had lived in Hell’s Kitchen their entire lives. Coon’s crew was small. At its peak, it included fewer than 20 core members.
Among them were Billy Bey, Jimmy Mroy, Kenny Shannon, and Kunan’s younger brother, Eddie. They were all Irish. They were all from Hell’s Kitchen. They knew every alley, rooftop, and basement in the neighborhood. By 1975, Kunan began expanding operations. He controlled lone sharking throughout Hell’s Kitchen.
He extorted every bar, restaurant, and construction site west of 9th Avenue. He took over union locals at the Javitz Center construction site and the Hudson River peers. He demanded payments from trucking companies, waste haulers, and parking lot operators. Those who refused were beaten. Those who resisted further were killed.
Revenue increased rapidly. Police estimates from 1977 suggest the Westies were earning over $1 million annually from lone sharking alone. Extortion added hundreds of thousands more. But Kunan wanted legitimacy. He wanted recognition from the Italian mafia families who controlled the rest of Manhattan. In 1977, Kunan made contact with Paul Castillano, boss of the Gambino crime family.
The meeting was arranged through Roy Deo, a Gambino captain who ran a crew in Brooklyn. Deo specialized in murder and disposal. He used methods similar to Kunan’s. The two men respected each other’s work. Kunan met Castayano at a restaurant in Staten Island. The meeting lasted two hours.
Castayano agreed to recognize Kunan’s control over Hell’s Kitchen. In exchange, Kunan would provide muscle for Gambino operations, contract killings, witness intimidation, labor enforcement. Kunan would also pay a percentage of major scores to the Gambinos. The exact percentage was never documented in court testimony. This alliance gave Kunan protection.
It also gave him access to larger criminal enterprises. Within months, the Westies were involved in a counterfeit currency operation run by the Gambinos. They were hired to kill a union boss in New Jersey. They were used to intimidate jurors in a federal racketeering trial in Brooklyn.
But the alliance also created tension. Some members of the Westies resented taking orders from Italians. Kunan’s younger brother Eddie was particularly vocal. He believed the Gambinos were exploiting them. He argued they should remain independent. Kunan disagreed. He understood that independence meant war and war meant federal attention.
By late 1978, the Westies were under surveillance. The NYPD Organized Crime Control Bureau had opened a file. The FBI had assigned two agents to monitor Kunan. Wiretaps were installed on phones at the 596 Club and Coon’s apartment on 9th Avenue, but the wiretaps produced little usable evidence.
Kunan rarely used phones. He communicated in person, in bars, in alleys, in parked cars. On March 25th, 1979, a man named Harold Whitehead was killed outside a bar on West 45th Street. Whitehead was a minor criminal with no gang affiliations. He had been drunk. He had insulted Featherstone’s girlfriend inside the bar.
Featherstone followed him outside and shot him three times in the chest. Witnesses saw the shooting. Police arrived within minutes. Featherstone was arrested the same night. Featherstone was charged with seconddegree murder. He was held without bail at Riker’s Island. Kunan hired a defense attorney named Kenneth Aronson.
Arensson was experienced in mob cases. He understood witness intimidation. Within two weeks, three of the four eyewitnesses recanted their statements. The fourth witness disappeared. He was never found. Featherstone’s trial began in October 1979. The prosecution’s case collapsed. Without witnesses, the jury could not convict.
Featherstone was acquitted on November 3rd, 1979. He walked out of the courthouse and returned to Hell’s Kitchen the same day. The acquitties could kill openly and escape prosecution. Fear spread through the neighborhood. Business owners stopped calling police. Witnesses stopped cooperating. Kunan’s control became absolute. In 1980, the Westies expanded into drug trafficking.
This was a departure from traditional Irish gang operations. Kunan had always avoided narcotics. He believed drug dealing attracted too much federal attention, but the potential revenue was too large to ignore. Roy Deo introduced Kunan to a cocaine supplier in Miami. The supplier was connected to Colombian cartels.
Kunan agreed to distribute cocaine throughout Hell’s Kitchen and the West Side. The first shipment arrived in February 1980. It was 20 kg of cocaine delivered to a warehouse on West 39th Street. Kunan distributed the product through trusted associates. Sales were brisk. By summer, the Westies were moving 50 kg per month.
Profit margins were extraordinary. [ __ ] began buying property, a bar on 10th Avenue, a small apartment building on West 51st Street, a parking lot near the Lincoln Tunnel. But the drug trade brought new problems. Rival dealers encroached on Westy’s territory. Dominican gangs from Washington Heights began selling on Westside blocks.
Kunan responded with violence. In August 1980, two Dominican dealers were found dead in a car on West 48th Street. Both had been shot in the head. A third dealer was beaten outside a bodega on 9th Avenue. He survived but refused to identify as attackers. The violence escalated. In September 1980, a Westy’s associate named Jackie Kunan, no relation to Jimmy, was shot outside the Market Diner. He survived.
Two weeks later, a Dominican dealer was killed in a drive-by shooting on West 46th Street. Police reports linked the shooting to the Westies, but no arrests were made. Featherstone was increasingly erratic. Friends later testified that he was drinking a fifth of whiskey daily. He was taking pills, Valium, amphetamines, whatever he could find.
He was paranoid. He believed the FBI was following him. He believed his phone was tapped. He believed members of his own crew were informants. On November 10th, 1980, Featherstone shot a man named Michael Holly inside the Sunbrite Bar. Holly was a low-level criminal with ties to the Genevese crime family. The shooting was unprovoked.
Witnesses said Holly had simply looked at Featherstone the wrong way. Featherstone pulled a revolver and fired twice. Holly died instantly. Kunan was furious. The shooting violated every rule. Holly was connected. Killing him without permission from the Genevese meant retaliation. Kunan met with Vincent Jagante, boss of the Genevesei family, at a social club in Little Italy.
Jagante demanded compensation. Kunan agreed to pay $50,000. He also agreed to hand over a percentage of Westy’s cocaine profits to the Genevies. The payment strained Counan’s finances. It also strained his relationship with Featherstone. Kunan believed Featherstone was becoming a liability.
Featherstone believed Kunan was selling out to the Italians. Trust eroded. In early 1981, the Westies were hired for a contract killing in New Jersey. The target was a union official named John O’ Conor. Okconor had refused to cooperate with Gambino controlled unions at construction sites in Manhattan. Paul Castellano wanted him eliminated.
Kunan assigned the contract to Billy Bey and Jimmy Mroy. On May 7th, 1981, Bey and Mroy drove to Okconor’s home in Saddle River, New Jersey. They waited in a car parked across the street. Okconor arrived home at 6:45 p.m. As he stepped out of his car, Batty approached and fired four shots. Three hit Okconor in the chest.
He collapsed in his driveway. Batty and Mroy drove back to Manhattan. Okconor survived. He was hospitalized for 3 weeks. He refused to cooperate with police. He refused to identify his attackers. But the shooting attracted federal attention. The FBI opened an investigation into Gambino Westy’s collaboration. Surveillance intensified.
By mid 1981, the FBI had identified Kunan, Featherstone, Bey, Mroy, and six others as core Westies members. Wiretaps were expanded. Undercover agents began frequenting Hell’s Kitchen bars. Informants were recruited. On September 15th, 1981, a man named Michael Spelain, nephew of Mickey Spelain, was found dead in a vacant lot on West 52nd Street.
He had been shot twice in the head. His hands and feet had been bound with electrical wire. Police suspected the Westies, but no evidence linked them to the murder. The killing reignited old tensions. Mickey Spelain, living in Queens, made quiet inquiries. He contacted former associates. He asked questions.
Kunan learned of the inquiries. He sent a message through an intermediary. Spilain stopped asking questions. In 1982, Featherstone’s behavior worsened. He was arrested twice. Once for drunk driving, once for assault. Both charges were eventually dropped, but the arrests brought attention. Federal agents began pressuring Featherstone.
They offered him deals. They told him [ __ ] was planning to kill him. Featherstone did not believe them. Not yet. On March 25th, 1983, a man named Michael Holly Jr., Son of the man Featherstone had killed in 1980, confronted Featherstone outside a bar on 10th Avenue. Holly was armed. He fired three shots. All three missed.
Featherstone returned fire. Holly was hit once in the shoulder. He fled. Featherstone was arrested 2 hours later. This time, witnesses cooperated. Holly testified. Featherstone was charged with attempted murder. His trial began in June 1983. The prosecution presented a strong case.
Kunan did not hire a lawyer for Featherstone. He did not intimidate witnesses. Featherstone realized he had been abandoned. On July 12th, 1983, Featherstone was convicted. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was transferred to Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York. Within weeks, Featherstone began cooperating with federal prosecutors.
He provided detailed testimony about Westy’s operations. He described murders, extortions, and drug deals. He named names. He identified bodies. He explained disposal methods. His testimony was corroborated by physical evidence, wiretaps, and other witnesses. In March 1985, a federal grand jury indicted nine members of the Westies.
Kunan was charged with racketeering, murder, conspiracy, and drug trafficking. The indictment listed 11 murders, dozens of assaults, and years of extortion. Kunan was arrested on March 20th, 1985 at his apartment on 9th Avenue. He did not resist. He was held without bail at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan.
His trial began in September 1986. The trial lasted 4 months. The prosecution called over 60 witnesses. Featherstone testified for 8 days. He described murders in clinical detail. He identified weapons. He recounted conversations. He provided dates, locations, and names. Defense attorneys attempted to discredit him. They highlighted his history of mental illness.
They emphasized his criminal record, but his testimony was precise. It matched forensic evidence. It matched wiretap recordings. Other witnesses corroborated Featherstone’s account. Billy Bey, facing his own charges, testified against Kunan. He described the Okconor shooting. He described contract killings ordered by the Gambinos.
He described how bodies were disposed of. He admitted participating in multiple murders. The defense argued that Featherstone and Bey were unreliable. They were criminals trying to save themselves. They had every reason to lie. But the jury was convinced. The physical evidence was overwhelming.
Blood stains matched victims. Weapons matched ballistics reports. Financial records showed extortion payments. On January 15th, 1987, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts. Kunan showed no emotion. He was sentenced to 75 years in federal prison. He was 40 years old. Other Westies members received similar sentences.
Billy Bey was sentenced to 60 years. Jimmy Mroy received 50 years. Kenny Shannon received 40 years. Eddie Kunan, Jimmy’s brother, was sentenced to 50 years. The convictions dismantled the Westies. Without leadership, the organization collapsed. Younger members attempted to maintain operations, but they lacked Kunan’s ruthlessness, and Featherstone’s enforcement capability.
By 1988, Hell’s Kitchen’s Irish gang presence had effectively ended. Kunan was incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He was later transferred to multiple facilities due to security concerns. He maintained contact with family members. He refused all interview requests.
He never admitted guilt. Featherstone entered the witness protection program in 1987. His wife [ __ ] and their children were relocated with him. Their new identities and location were never disclosed. Featherstone testified in multiple subsequent trials, helping convict additional organized crime figures connected to the Westies and Gambino family.
Mickey Spelain, the man Kunan had displaced, lived quietly in Queens until his death in 1977. He was shot outside his apartment building on May 13th, 1977. The same day, Kunan killed Ricky Taciello. Spellelain’s murder was never solved. Kunan was never charged. But investigators believed the timing was not coincidental. Paul Castayano, the Gambino boss who had allied with Kunan, was assassinated on December 16th, 1985 outside Spark Steakhouse in Manhattan.
His murder was ordered by John Gotti. Gotti became the new Gambino boss. He severed all ties with the remaining Westies members. He considered them too unpredictable and too exposed. Roy Deo, the Gambino captain who had introduced Kunan to Castayano, was found dead in the trunk of his car in Brooklyn on January 10th, 1983.
He had been shot multiple times in the head. His murder was ordered by Castillano, who feared Deo was attracting too much federal attention. Deo’s crew, like the Westies, was dismantled shortly after. Hell’s Kitchen itself changed. By the late 1980s, the neighborhood was gentrifying. Real estate developers bought old tenementss and converted them into luxury apartments.
The docks along the Hudson River were redeveloped into parks and commercial spaces.
